April 21, 2016
For Immediate Release

By Josh Christian, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — The day was bright with sunshine and there was celebration in the air at Ransdell Chapel a few days after Easter Sunday, where Dr. Travis Collins, senior pastor and director of mission advancement at First Baptist Huntsville, spoke on the subject of grace, naming specific times where he asked himself, “What was I thinking?”

One situation Collins shared, involved picking up old glass soda bottles at his local grocery in Anniston, Ala. Collins explained that instead of dumping out the left-over beverage in order to recycle the bottle, he would just drink it.

“That wasn't the last thing I did that left me thinking, “What was I thinking?”” Collins said. “That is why my favorite subject is grace.”

Collins described God's grace as unrelenting, unlimited, and unconditional.

“Our place in God's heart isn't determined by our choices,” Collins said.

Collins went on to talk about the Apostle Peter as an illustration for grace. Collins used the scene of Jesus' arrest and trial from the Holy Bible.

“Peter was staying close enough to Jesus to see what was going on,” Collins said.

Mentioning the Book of Luke, Collins said that after Peter's denial of Jesus, the rooster crowed as Jesus predicted and Jesus looked right at Peter.

“The last time Peter saw Jesus was that specific time Jesus looked at him,” Collins said.

“Peter must have wondered if there would still be a place for him,” Collins said, going on to explain that God's grace is ultimately shown when Jesus visits Peter and the other apostles first after Jesus' was resurrected.

“I wonder if Jesus were to show up on campus, to which of you he would go to first,” Collins said.

Collins further defined grace as undeserving, and wrapped up his sermon by telling a story about a baptism.

Collins said that a woman from his church approached him one afternoon and asked if he would meet with her friend one afternoon. In meeting her friend, he found that she was open and vulnerable, sharing about a commitment to Christ she had made in her youth and her wandering away from the faith.

“I am dying and now I want to be baptized,” the woman told Collins.

A baptism was scheduled for June, just a few months later, but the woman couldn't wait that long. “In May, one Sunday night at midnight, I got a phone call,” Collins said.

The woman was in intensive care and needed Collins to come see her. Upon his arrival, he noted the family in the room and went to the woman's bedside. After catching up, she asked him if he would baptize her. Collins explained that he had never done a baptism where he hadn't dunked someone before, so it was a new experience. With a Styrofoam cup filled with water, Collins baptized her after singing the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

“That night, the woman fell into a deep sleep and woke with her Heavenly Father,” Collins said.

“There can't be this many of us in a room without some person needing God's grace,” Collins said.
Collins ended the service by leading the congregation in singing “Amazing Grace”.

Aaron Smith, CU Sophomore, Shelby Knuckles, CU Junior, and Clayton Jennings, CU Junior, all led worship to begin service.

Pavy led opened with the invocation and welcome.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.